Sunday January 8, 2006(Audio) Homily by Fr. Robert AltierEpiphany of the Lord

Reading I (Isaiah 60:1-6)Reading II (Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6)

Gospel (St. Matthew 2:1-12)

The feast we celebrate today of the Epiphany was one of the most
important feast days in the ancient Church year. The reason for that is one
that we tend to take for granted. It is made very clear in the second reading
today, that is, the mystery has been revealed. And the mystery that was
revealed was demonstrated in a very particular way through the feast we celebrate
today, that is, the Gentiles are now coheirs with the Jews, members of the same
body, they are heirs of eternal life, and they are brought into one with Jesus
Christ. Saint Paul tells us this is something that was made known to him by a
revelation.

For the Jewish people, of course, we understand that they were the
chosen people of God, and they understood fully well that they were the means
to salvation. But there were also a number of prophetic statements of the Old
Testament talking about the fact that there would be a new covenant and that
the Gentiles would become one with the Jews. More than likely, the average
Jewish person reading this would have assumed that meant the Gentiles would
become Jewish. But, in fact, we can look at it now in Christ and see that is
not what it meant at all; there was something entirely new. This is precisely
what Our Lord talks about when He says, for instance: No one
takes a new piece of cloth and sews it on to an old coat,and, No one puts new wine into old wine
skins. In fact, it is
something that must be entirely different, something new. It builds upon what
was there of old because God’s truth does not change, but it fulfills
everything of old.

So what Saint Paul and the other apostles would not realize for many years
to come was revealed in a very profound way in Our Lord’s birth, that here we
have the pagan nations, the Gentiles (the word Gentile, by the way, means “nation,” so it is every
nation that is not Israel; anyone who was not Jewish was considered a Gentile;
it is all the people of the nations), the representatives of various nations
coming to give homage to Christ. In fact, the word in the Gospel that is
translated as homage is actually the word worship in Greek. They worshipped Him. We are told in the
Gospel that they prostrated themselves and they worshipped Him.

Now contrast that with what we see in the Gospel reading about
Jerusalem. We are told that King Herod and all Jerusalem with him were afraid.
They trembled at the news that the Messiah was born. Why would that happen?
What we celebrate today goes rather contrary to what we heard in the first
reading. We heard: Darkness covers the earth and thick clouds the peoples;
but upon you, Jerusalem, the Lord will dawn and in you His radiance will be
revealed.
The people of Jerusalem were the ones who were to be enlightened. They had the
truth. They had the prophets. They had the Scriptures and everything that was
contained within. But what happened in ancient Jerusalem is tragically similar
to what is happening throughout the world right now, but we just have to look
around our own backyard here, and we have to say that the darkness covers and
the thick clouds have enveloped the people. Just ask yourself right now: If
Jesus were to be born into our world, not coming in glory again, but what if He
were to be born into our world today, to come in a very hidden form? How many
people do you know in your neighborhood, in your office, even perhaps in your
own home, who would rejoice that the Light has come into the darkness? The
tragedy is people of our day have chosen the darkness. They like it because
evil deeds are done in darkness, but those that are good are brought into the
light. So in our world filled with corruption, selfishness, and all kinds of
unfortunate things, people just like of old have chosen the darkness over the
light. And I do not think it takes a genius to be able to recognize that it is
getting darker. But that is okay because the darker something is, the brighter
the light shines within it.

Now if people like it dark, they do not want the light to shine, which
is why they are going to give you all kinds of trouble if you are doing what
Christ told you to do, that is, to be the light of the world, to go out into
the darkness and bring the light of Christ into the world. Because unlike what
happened two thousand years ago, where Our Lord was born in human form and was
revealed to the nations through a star, today He wants to be revealed through
us. He wants us to be like that guiding star to bring people to Him, to point
the way beyond ourselves to Christ Himself. That is the task that is given to
each and every one of us.

We can understand, perhaps, a little bit of the reaction of the people
of Jerusalem. For many of us, perhaps the thought of going out into the world
and bringing Christ into the world, living our faith out in this world of
darkness, being truly Catholic in this neopagan society in which we live,
brings a little bit of trembling into our heart. The trembling is in people who
claim that they know and love Jesus. What about people who did not know and
love Him? They were awaiting His arrival, but they did not know Him yet;
consequently, they were not able to love Him. They were not sure what was going
to happen to their way of life and they were afraid.

We know what is supposed to happen to our way of life. We are supposed
to overcome sin and we are to live as children of the light. We are to live
holy lives. Still, we tremble at the thought of having to change our lives in
order to live them for Christ. How many of us have chosen to live like the
pagans around us, just so that we fit in? Isn’t it interesting that the people
of the promise trembled in fear when they heard about the Messiah being born?
But the pagans came and prostrated themselves and worshipped Him. What about
us? Are we willing to bow down before Him, not just on Sunday morning, not just
when we receive Holy Communion, but are we willing to live our lives that way?
Are we truly willing to live our lives for Christ?

The word epiphany means a “manifestation.” Our Lord has made Himself
manifest to the nations, and He has made Himself manifest to each and every one
of us. There is not one single person who can say that Our Lord has not made
Himself clear. I am not saying that He has somehow appeared in some
extraordinary form, because in most of us, thanks be to God, that has not
happened – and do not pray that it does. But we know Him. He is right here in
the Blessed Sacrament, and He has made Himself manifest to us. We have the
fullness of truth regarding Christ.

In the ancient world, there were actually three feasts that were
celebrated today – the Epiphany, the Baptism of Our Lord, and the Wedding Feast
at Cana – because these were three things that manifested the true divinity of
Christ. The pagans recognized Who He was and bowed down and worshipped Him; the
Holy Spirit descended upon Him and the voice of the Father was heard saying, You are
My beloved Son, on you My favor rests; and in the wedding at Cana, the first of His
miracles where His apostles began to believe in Him and He manifested Himself
at the beginning of His public life.

Now we have the fullness of the Gospel; we have the fullness of truth
given to us. The manifestation of Christ is truly present within the hearts and
souls

of every single one of us. If that is the case, then we have to ask
ourselves: Is Christ being manifest now through us? He has been made manifest
to us, is He being made manifest through us to others? That is what He is looking for.
When Our Lord was brought to the temple by His mother, Simeon took Him in his
arms and proclaimed that He is the light to the nations and that through Him we
have the revelation of God. What Simeon recognized in the humanity of Christ
was His divinity shining through. Our Lord desires that we would do the same,
that we will recognize Him hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, but also hidden
within each one of us. If we are in the state of grace, remember that the Holy
Trinity dwells within. All three persons of God – the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit – dwell inside of each one of us as in a temple. And He desires
that we would bring Him out into the world and make Him manifest, a light of
revelation to the nations.

Again, if you think about it and you look at yourself and think, “Well,
I’m really not shining too terribly brightly for the Lord,” then rejoice all
the more that the darkness is becoming so much worse, because even the dimmest
bulb shines rather brightly in great darkness. But we need to make sure we
continue to try to increase the brightness that is there, that we develop the
holiness and the prayer life, that we seek true union with Christ. The times in
which we are living should certainly be clear to anyone of faith. They are
extraordinary times, certainly times of extraordinary evil – never in the
history of the world has there been such an evil day. If you think about that
from past events, the Flood came at the time of Noah because of the evil that
was present in the world. Back in the late 1950’s, Pope Pius XII said that we
live in the most sinful society that history has ever known. That was in the
1950’s. And so if that is the case, things are far worse now. We need to make
sure we are living our faith. We need to make sure we are not giving way to the
darkness to become like everyone else. We need to make sure we are not
compromising our commitment to Jesus Christ, because in the midst of such an
evil time we know there are going to be extraordinary things that are going to
be happening, and each and every one of us needs to be prepared for that. We
know not the day nor the hour, and it does not matter when. All that matters is
that we are found watching and ready.

We need to learn from these three truly Wise Men of old. They watched
in the darkness for a bright star. In the darkness of this world, we need to
keep our eyes on He Who is the Light of the world. And from His light, we need
to be enlightened so that we can go out into the darkness and the light of
faith will brighten the path upon which we are to walk. We are to recognize
Christ in the midst of this darkness, and we are to prostrate ourselves before
Him and we are to worship Him. There is no need for fear. There is no need for
trembling. But rather, as is said of the ancient Jerusalem so it is said of the
New Jerusalem: You will be radiant at what you see. That is what Jesus wants from us: to see His
extreme and ultimate radiance, the light of God, the light of truth, the light
of love shining forth from the Blessed Sacrament and shining forth from within
us, that we too will be radiant, that we too will be filled with His grace so
we will bring God, Who is truth and Who is love, out into the world of
darkness, of hatred, and of lies; and that the mystery that was revealed and is
celebrated today will continue to be revealed and celebrated; that even those
who have chosen to live a pagan life in this world will be able to see the true
light and they will come to Jesus Christ, and they too will prostrate
themselves and worship Him.

But before that happens, it needs to happen in us. We rejoice when
there are conversions. We rejoice when people see the light. But how often we
are put to shame by the way these people live their lives. They have seen the
truth and they have changed their lives to conform to the truth, whereas so
many of us continue to try to compromise the truth, to be mediocre Catholics,
and to find a way to let the darkness attempt to cover the light. We cannot do
that any longer. The Wise Men were smart enough to look to the light in the
darkness. We live in a day where darkness covers the earth and thick clouds
cover the people, but there is a brilliant star that shines in the darkness. If
we have any wisdom about us at all, we should be able to see that star – Who is
Jesus Christ – shining in the darkness and to follow that star, to keep our
eyes fixed upon it until we find Him, we unite ourselves with Him, and we bow
down before Him and worship Him.

e is telling us, Thisi s what I want, but I
want

*This text was
transcribed from the audio recording of a homily by Father Robert Altier with minimal editing.